Chris Bateman
These are our favourite books of 2023, works that challenged and delighted us with tales of life, love and very often rock n roll
Chris Bateman tunes into this expansive anthology of Johnny Cash’s lyrics, put together by Mark Stielper and John Carter Cash
Paul Hanford’s study of Berlin as a club culture capital profiles DJs, music makers and subcultures via history, politics and psychogeography
Our literature correspondent Chris Bateman goes down the rabbit hole to report back on his ten favourite books of the year
Bobby Gillespie’s autobiography is a devotional, often hedonistic tale of rock and roll, punk and acid house salvation, writes Chris Bateman
Rachel Cusk’s Second Place rewards patience, as reading it is to fully commit to the author’s way of thinking, writes Chris Bateman
Hanif Abdurraqib interrogates history through the lens of lived experience in his essay collection celebrating Black performance
Kerri ní Dochartaigh’s genre defying book explores our attachments to place in beautiful, poetic detail according to Chris Bateman
Barwise and York’s book offers unexpected conclusions while equipping the reader to counter arguments against the BBC, writes Chris Bateman
Yoko Ogawa’s latest novel translated into English explores control of collective and individual memory under a totalitarian regime, reports Chris Bateman
Kristen Roupenian’s debut collection assesses the psyche of modern America and conjures modern day folk stories, writes Chris Bateman
Rozi Plain takes us to a land of daydreaming adventure and enigmatic word play that is far removed from these cold streets and dreary times
Tracey Thorn traces her past as a teenager in suburbia with a book that beautifully combines memoir, music and psychogeography
Matt Zoller Seitz and Alan Sepinwall’s critical compendium gives a three-dimensional view of planet Sopranos and Chris Bateman delights in the details
Acosta’s 1972 The Autobiography of a Brown Buffalo has been reissued into an alarmingly unchanged world and is as relevant as ever, argues Chris Bateman
Aidan Moffat and RM Hubbert channel Charles Dickens and MR James in an unheimlich album to be played under the plastic mistletoe
The first novel for the Thirteenth Doctor riffs on how a single event can, if exploited by those in pursuit of power, turn history on its head
Chris Bateman rubs shoulders with punk Flamenco singers, accountants and death as he considers Leonard Cohen’s sweet swansong
Chris Bateman views Alasdair Gray’s translation of Dante as being in the tradition of the best Scottish thinkers from the Enlightenment onwards